Living Your Purpose

You have a purpose. You have specific gifts, talents, and abilities that are uniquely yours. At the intersection of "what you love to do" and "what you are good at" you will find your purpose. Do you know your purpose? Do you know why you are here on this planet? If not, then it's time to ask the questions:

• What do I love to do?
• What am I good at?
• When do I feel most alive?

Once you have answered these questions you need to gather the courage and confidence to act upon the answers.

In my speaking and coaching work I have met thousands of people who are on purpose. They are people who are good at what they do and they love what they do. They are people in health care, banking, manufacturing, education, associations, and government. There are leaders, writers, musicians, speakers, consultants, and artists. Each person brings their unique set of gifts in service to others.

At the same time I have met thousands of people who dislike their work. These people are not on purpose. They may complain about the organisation, their compensation, their fellow employees, and a host of other things. Their real problem is that they are not on purpose. When you are not on purpose you create stress, pain, and conflict for yourself. Your gifts lay within you, unopened, abandoned. Much has been said about what to do to motivate people. Meaning and purpose motivate people. Truly successful organisations are made up of people doing work they love toward a meaningful purpose

Many will say that they know what their gift is, but they can't make any money at it. There is a way to make money at anything. The problem isn't money. It's confidence. They really don't believe their gifts have value, and so they believe no one else will value them either.

Once you develop confidence, you begin to see opportunities. The world, and possibly the organisation you work in, have abundant opportunities for you to live your purpose. This brings up the other reason for not living on purpose. We tell ourselves that we are not getting the support we need from others. Our family, friends, and colleagues are not cheering us on.

From the day you are born you will receive comments, opinions and criticisms from others. You must choose whether you are living their dream or your own. You must decide that your purpose is too important to abdicate responsibility for it to others.

If the biggest problem is confidence, then how do we get the confidence? Here are some ideas for you: 

1. Listen to the still small voice within. Practise listening to your intuition and following it. This voice should trump all external voices when deciding how to live your life. Access this voice through prayer, meditation, or quiet contemplation.

2. Study and practise to develop your gifts. Confidence increases with knowledge and skill.

3. Let go of the negative opinions of others. You owe it to yourself to listen within and trust that inner voice rather than putting your trust in the opinions of others. Find people who will encourage and respect your gifts, because they will reflect back to you your growing inner confidence. On the other hand, listen carefully and non judgmentally to criticism. Valid criticism will show you where you need more learning and practise. Invalid criticism will test your resolve.

4. Don't waste your time comparing yourself to others. Certainly others may serve as models for you, but envy and negative comparison will not help you. Do your best with what you have now.

5. Make sure the purpose you are expressing is really yours, and not one assigned to you by someone else. Also, know that a purpose can be very simple. It isn't always romantic or grand, but it does feel good. I have had clerks in stores and servers in restaurants who have made my day. These amazing people were each living their purpose. I have met assembly line workers, custodians, and receptionists who were living their purpose. They brought total focus and joy to their work. Sometimes your purpose is not "out there somewhere", but it's right here in front of you. Live the purpose that feels right to you.

6. There are no good excuses for why you can't follow your purpose. Make time. At one point in my life I decided to hone in on my purpose. Every night before falling asleep, I asked the question: What is my purpose? I placed a notepad and pen next to my bed. When I awoke, I wrote down the first thing that came to mind. I did this for seven consecutive mornings. Once I defined my purpose, I listed all of the things I was good at and that I enjoyed doing down the left side of a piece of paper. Next, I listed all of the industries I could think of across the top of the page. I divided my paper into columns and rows, creating a matrix. I placed X's on my matrix wherever I saw a fit between skills/interests and industries. I highlighted the industries where I felt most excited about expressing my skills and interests. I decided to focus my attention on positions in the industries where my skills and interests fit and where I felt the greatest enthusiasm. Within a week I found an ad that matched my area of focus. I was hired within a two months.

Maybe you already know your purpose. Are you challenged enough? Can you be living your purpose at a higher level? Once you find your purpose it is important to continue learning and growing. Listen to the voice within and follow it. There is a reason you are here. Whether you see yourself as young or old, working or retired, you have a purpose. It is calling to you from deep within. Answer the call. Allow it to take hold of you. It is in living your purpose that you will find fulfilment.

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10 Keys to Discovering Your Life's Purpose

Are you clear about the purpose of your life? And are you fulfilling it? Or are you one of the many people who have spent your entire life (until now) feeling restless, confused, just going through a monotonous routine day after day - and never feeling certain about the purpose of your life? If the issue of life purpose has entered your life at this juncture, it is important to find a process to discover it. Why? Because without it, you will never feel the level of fulfilment that is possible in your work. In my 21 years in the career development field, guiding people through transitions of various types, nothing has been more transformational for my clients than discovering and fulfilling their life purpose.

What do I mean by life purpose? First, in a broad sense, we all have a shared overall purpose, in that we are here to discover as much of our true self as we can and to express our true self through our lives to the greatest possible extent. We do this through all of the experiences we have, the people we relate to, the jobs we choose, and the teachers whose message rings true with us.

Each of us also has a specific purpose. It is a calling, a mission, or an overall theme for your life that transcends your daily activities. It is the quality you have come to earth to develop, the type of service you are here to render, the segment of the planet you have come to enhance or improve. It is much broader than one job or career; it pervades your entire life.

In fact, most of us will have at least five different careers in our lives. Your purpose is not found in a career area or a job description. Rather, you use your career (as well as the other aspects of your life) to accomplish our broadly stated purpose. For example, one man's life purpose was to promote peace. He did so by working as a mediator and by consciously pursuing peaceful relationships. Another woman discovered her life purpose was to nurture the earth. She learned all she could about conservation, worked for the park bureau, and soon was in demand as a teacher for other nature guides and conservationists.

Perhaps you have had a sense since you were a child that you had a 'mission.' Or you may have periodically asked yourself, 'What is the meaning of my life?' If neither of these questions has come to you consciously, you may notice that you life has consisted of much drifting from one job to the next, one relationship to another, with no sense of order or meaning - and a resulting feeling of emptiness.

If you have not experienced the level of success that you know you are capable of, or if you have felt as if something is 'missing' from your life, take note of this very important principle: You will experience success in your life to the extent that you are clear about your life purpose.

Qualities of Life Purpose

Life purpose is fun, joyful, and playful. When you are carrying out our life purpose, you will find that the time goes by unnoticed. Hours pass in pure bliss. Joseph Campbell and the eastern mystics use the phrase, 'Follow your bliss.' The dictionary defines bliss as 'complete happiness.' Thus Joseph Campbell is saying to pursue those things that cause you to experience complete happiness. Abraham Maslow called these experiences 'peak experiences.' Peak experiences are a regular occurrence when you are following your life purpose. Both of these concepts are closely aligned with discovering and following your life purpose.

Have you ever had the experience of reading a good book, working at a hobby you love, or listening to beautiful music when several hours later it seemed as if only minutes had passed? That is the feeling that is available to you when you have discovered your life purpose - and are living it.

Another characteristic of life purpose is that it is completely unique to you. No one else can fulfill your purpose. Whether it concerns an area that is being explored by many or by only a few, what matters is that no one can approach it as you can.

Clues to Your Life Purpose

Following are ten clues which will help you to discover your life purpose.

Clue No. 1: What do you love to do? That is, when you have spare time, how do you like to spend it? Your spare time activities are important because they show what you enjoy doing when no one else is making demands on you. This is truly your time. What do you enjoy doing with it? Even if these activities do not seem related to your career, they may be the seeds of an opportunity you have not yet recognized. Two ladies in a career counselling group a couple of years ago mentioned that what they liked to do in their spare time was watch soap operas. Once they acknowledged that as the thing they most loved to do, they converted that passion into a flourishing career writing syndicated summaries of all the daily soaps! Another way to think about this clue is: what would you do even if you were not paid to do it?

Clue No. 2: What parts of your present job or life activities do you thoroughly enjoy? Even if you feel miserable in your current job or career field, think about this question. If you think back to why you took the job or chose the career area to begin with, there are likely some specific tasks or objectives that are (or were) enjoyable to you. It might be a small thing, as in the case of the receptionist who disliked dealing with all the people in her job but thoroughly enjoyed the few moments each day that she got to type letters and sort the mail. She later learned that she was not a 'people' person, but a data person who enjoyed organizing things. That clue led her into her new job as a word processor.

As you go through these clues, forget all about what others may think of your answers. This process is for you, and you need not share it with anyone else. Another pair of home makers in a Northwest state realized that, even though it sounded silly, they loved to clean house. They were perceptive enough to recognize that this was a clue to a business opportunity, and they are now famous as the Clutter Ladies and make their living helping people clean up their messes and stay organized.

Clue No. 3: What do you naturally do well? You have some natural abilities. These are the things you just naturally do well. They have always come easily to you. Perhaps you are naturally athletic or can learn foreign languages quickly with little effort. You may be a born organizer or have innate intuitive abilities. The areas in which you naturally excel are indicators of your life purpose - particularly if you also enjoy the things you do well. Your Enjoyment Quotient - the sum total of the things that give you the greatest joy - is the most important guide to your life purpose.

Clue No. 4: What are your ten greatest successes to date (in your eyes)? For this clue, put aside what others in your life may view as your successes. What things do you view as your greatest successes? It may be something as simple as a gesture that helped someone in need - or it may be a widely publicized improvement you made in your company's efficiency. Whatever it is, list your successes, as well as - and this is important - what it was about the accomplishment or event that makes you label it a success. (For example, the person who many an improvement in her company's efficiency may label it a success because of the benefit to the company, the way it make her feel, the money it saved, the recognition she got, or for other reasons.)

Clue No. 5: Is there a cause about which you feel passionate? Many times, the essence of our life purpose is revealed through a cause which attracts our commitment at a deep level. For example, if you feel strongly about world peace, or the save-the-whales movement because of a love for Mother Earth, or for the whales themselves, or a desire to preserve the animals for future generations? What is it about the cause that attracts you to it?

Clue No. 6: What are the ten most important lessons you have learned in your life? It is said that we teach that which we most need to learn. What do you feel are the most valuable or important things you have learned through your life experiences so far? (They need not be related to work.) One of these that was on my list included a simple realization in my days as a secretary of the important of approaching challenges at work, such as how to handle an issue for my boss, as though they were my own personal challenges. This gave me a sense of ownership and self-confidence in my own judgement which allowed me to experience increased peace of mind in my work. No doubt you have had experiences that you recall often which were life-changing or pivotal in your life.

Clue No. 7: Are there some issues or perceived problems that have occurred over and over again? This clue is related to the previous one, in that out of one of these repeated issues may come your greatest lessons. But some of them are probably still occurring. That is, you have yet to learn how to break the pattern. Do you keep choosing mates that put you down? Or jobs that are beyond your skill level? If there were a theme for your life, how would you describe it?

I believe this lifetime is one of many we will experience in our ongoing process of spiritual growth. Whether or not you agree, these recurring issues or 'problems,' as we sometimes call them, often represent the key qualities you are here to develop. The Buddhists call them 'uncooked seeds,' or the qualities that aren't yet fully matured in you.

Clue No. 8: What do you daydream about doing? This is important because your daydreams have their basis in your subconscious mind. This is the largest part of your mind, but not as easily accessed as your conscious mind. Our mind resembles an iceberg: the conscious mind is the ten percent of the iceberg above the water that we can easily see, but the subconscious is the ninety percent that lies submerged below the water. It is in your subconscious mind that your beliefs reside, as well as your deepest desires for success and fulfilment. If there are images or issues about which you repeatedly daydream (or dream of at night), they may be aspects of your life purpose. Their importance cannot be overestimated.

Clue No. 9: Imagine you are writing your epitaph. What things do you want to be remembered for at the end of your life? What things will your life be incomplete without? This exercise is a good way quickly to access the essence of your life and goals. What are the first things that come to your mind - before your other chattering voices (sometimes referred to as the 'committee') override your initial impulse? Another way to approach this clue is to imagine you only had six months to live. What would you do differently than you are now? Once you realize what is most important for you, the next question is - what are you waiting for to make those things real for you?

Clue No. 10: What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Our final clue is a fun, and very effective, game you can play with yourself. If you have struggled to respond to the previous clues, this one encourages you to look beyond your perceived limitations. If you have been saying, 'I'd really like to do it, but I know I could never succeed,' I encourage you to forge the last part of that sentence for now, and think what you would do with your life if you knew you could not fail.

So now we know that life purpose is an overall theme or mission of our life that is unique to us. It is fun, joyful, absorbing, and fulfilling, and it meets a deep inner need within us. Taking the answers to the 10 clues, the next step is to notice any themes in the answers, e.g., do many of them relate to being with people in a particular way, or to solving problems or working with your hands? Those themes can then be distilled down into an 'essence,' the core of your purpose that is relatively unchanging, and the 'expression,' or the ways in which that purpose is being expressed (or could be!) in your life now. Here's an example: 'My life purpose is to promote harmony and balance through working as a mediator, parenting my children to live non violently, and volunteering in my community association.' What is your life purpose? Do you have a clearer idea now?

Implementing your Life Purpose

Now that you have begun to discover your life purpose, the next step is to implement it in your life on a daily basis. Here are several easy ways to do this.

1. Do the activities related to your life purpose first thing in the morning. This will allow you to do what is important to you before other distractions have a chance to tempt you off course.

2. Whenever you have a decision to make, ask which of your options will take you closer to your life purpose. Usually, one of your options will be more joyful than the other(s). This will be the one that leads to the fulfilment of your life purpose. Each small step builds on the last, and soon you are living the life of your dreams!

3. Be willing to change. To fulfil your life purpose, you must be willing to change anything that does not take you there. If you are harbouring resistance, fear, or old programming, merely stating to the Universe a willingness to chance it will propel you in the direction you want to go. You may not know the precise steps to take, but your willingness will lead you to take the right action for you.

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You Have Been Given a Purpose Driven Life

If someone gave you $20 million and said here take it, go knock yourself out. You may do whatever you want with the money - what would you do with it? Does a briefcase of money have any purpose, or is it a means to an end and what is the end? The only purpose for the money is to spend it, otherwise it is worthless.

Most of us would give it some serious thought or at least a little thought and decide how we would spend the money. Some would spend it all right away, some would manage it so that it would last; still others would have no idea. However, all of us would spend it on something that would make us happy. The purpose of the money for most of us would be to purchase happiness in some form or another.

We still live in a world in which we believe we need money to be happy. If I have a new shiny, red, fast mobile; I will be happy. If I have the perfect mate; I will be happy. If I have a new home or a really fast computer, I will be happy. The whole purpose of having money seems to be to find the elusive happiness that dwells somewhere outside of ourselves. It is a false equation; money + spending, does not = happiness. The purpose of money is hidden in our desire to express ourselves emotionally as being happy. Taken in perspective money is really only a means of expressing the happiness we have already thought of in material ways.

The creator of all that is; the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient one; gave us much more than that. He gave us the ability to create more than $20 million and anything else we desire. He gave us unlimited resources to create anything that we can imagine. He said knock yourself out, use your power as you wish. Create anything that you can think of. The creator did not lay down any rules for the spending; humanity created rules of conduct and usually by self serving individuals who wanted to control unbridled power.

The only purpose to life is "to be;" to be this or that, one thing or another. The purpose of life is the purpose that you give it. Like the one who would give you $20 million tax free dollars. The creator wants nothing back. It is within the creative process that the 'one mind' experiences physical life. It is through you and your purpose, that it can experience itself as being.

Purpose is always creative. A car has function, but it is how you use it that gives it purpose. If you drive your kids to school, it is the car that helps you facilitate that desire. You have created a purpose for the car; it is one of transportation. Not all cars are built for this purpose. Some cars are built for test purposes or are built as concept cars.

On an old TV show called "The Millionaire," J.B.T., a multi millionaire gave away money to selected individuals to spend as they see fit. His purpose was to see how they would spend it.

The creator gives away unlimited life/power to experience his creative force through you - to see how you will use it.

Humanity for the most part has not given any thought or very little thought as to how to use it. He has given up most of the power to others who would create rules for using the power in order to add to their own. The prospect of having unlimited power is unfathomable to most, and humanity is fearful of how he would use that power.

Imagine for a moment that instead of being given $20 million; you where given thousands of trillions of dollars - what would you do with it. It's scary to think that you could have anything you desired with this kind of power. Once you have purchased any country you want and anything in it; where would you go from there?

It has been self evident throughout history that people (kings, dictators, gods, etc.) who have obtained absolute power in their countries over everyone and everything in it; generally self destruct. There is no place to go when you have reached the top of the mountain, except down; so that you may start over again.

It is the natural progression or purpose of all living things to improve themselves; to evolve into the grandest version of the greatest vision that it has of itself.

Life is purpose driven then, to express itself as this or that and always in a better version. The only way that it can do that is through the consciousness of the living being. Man was given dominion over himself in order to do that. He was given the awesome responsibility for creating purpose for his/her life. This purpose does not come from God, Government, Religion or any other person or body. It is individualized and is buried in the D.N.A. of every living thing in nature.

The "One Mind" (some call it God) is the only mind, the "Spirit" (sometimes called "Soul") is the facilitator, and you (sometimes called "Ego") are the three parts of creation - thought, word, and deed. The purpose of mind was to create you, so that you would give life purpose which would be experienced by all of its parts as being. The purpose of this collaboration is to create purpose and experience it.

In this triune; man does very little to improve himself. His technology has exceeded his ability to use it wisely. He spends much of his time working so that he can afford it. Personally, he does not think much about improving himself or creating spiritual awareness of who he really is and the power that he controls. He does not really understand his purpose except for the annoying reminders he may get from established, self interest, organized belief systems.

Beyond the five senses he is for the most part illiterate. There is abundant evidence to show that successful people understand the purpose of using and controlling their power. They are amongst the five percent who control the world's wealth at this time. But, they are no more powerful than the street person living under a bridge. They are purpose driven to create abundance in their lives and they have discovered the secret to manifesting it.

When you learn the secret of cause and effect, you will understand that power is the cause and where you direct it, is the effect.

The purpose of life is to give purpose - your purpose. In reality none other

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Accomplishing God's Purpose for Your Life

How do you accomplish God's purpose for your life? Do you ask God to reveal His purpose to you? Do you fast for 21 days before you get to know God's purpose for your life? How do you do it? Let's look at the following points:

Identify yourself with the Purpose-giver


No other person than your Creator can tell you why He created you. You were brought here by God: Joseph said, "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." (Gen. 45:8a) The apostle Paul said, "From one man he (God) made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:26-27, emphasis mine)

And so the first step is to identify yourself with the Purpose-giver, God. You must be connected to the Purpose-giver (Eph. 2:18). Whether you are a believer or not, God has a purpose for your life, and the foundation on which your God-given purpose can be accomplished is Jesus Christ ("on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"). Joseph was connected to God, and that took him to the peak of his God-given purpose. The Bible says that God was with him (Gen. 39:2, 21). A personal relationship and consistent fellowship with God is key to accomplishing God's purpose. Is God with you? Do you have a personal relationship and intimate fellowship with Him? If you do not have Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Saviour, I admonish you to confess your sins to God, ask for His forgiveness and invite Jesus Christ into your life. Identify yourself with the Purpose-giver.

Know God's purpose for your life

Scripture has proved that ignorance leads to destruction (Hosea 4:6a). You need the knowledge of God and His ways to accomplish your God-given purpose. There is no other place to know God and His ways than from His word and walking with Him. God's purposes for your life are stated clearly in His word. In his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren outlines five (5) purposes, but I summarize them into three (3): to serve God, to be like Jesus Christ, and to save lives by the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:24; Eph. 2:10).

Search through Scripture. You'll find that all the people who were called by God were mandated to accomplish these three purposes; and they are the same things God asks us to do. Take the kings, the prophets, and the disciples; their lives were woven around accomplishing these purposes. Some of them failed, but others succeeded. Now you may be asking, "What about Hosea who was asked to marry a prostitute?" My response is this: to accomplish these purposes, God gives various instructions to follow. Hosea marrying a prostitute was an instruction geared towards accomplishing God's purpose of bringing Israel to the knowledge of their condition before God, and entreating them to return to their only Love.

So there are many instructions you may have to follow, and many directions you'll have to take, in order to fulfill these three purposes stated above. There is a difference between what mission does God want me to accomplish and what does God want me to do to accomplish that mission. For instance, God may lead you to establish an orphanage; the purpose is to save lives. God won't give you any other task outside His word. Everything is revealed in His word. But as I have already stated, there are specific duties God will have you do in order to accomplish His purposes. This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes to play as you will need His leading and direction for your life.

Wait for God

God may hinder certain things in your life, or He may delay you in order to accomplish a specific task at a specific time. In such cases, never go ahead of Him. Know that God's delay is God's right time, and He alone knows what is best for you. There are other times when you want to move ahead to the next stage of your life, but you realize God wants you to do something before you move on. Mostly, in such situations, waiting is difficult; your spirit may be willing, but your flesh resists. If God does not intervene, you may ignore His calling and so He brings something into your life to help you fulfill His will.

In 2003, after writing the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (public and private) and making an aggregate of 8, I decided to prepare for university education. That year, the Holy Spirit told me I was supposed to wait until 2005 before I enrolled at a university. It was unheard of for a student with such excellent grades to stay at home while his colleagues who did not have better grades advanced in their education. In fact, I rejected this instruction from God and went ahead to apply for 2004 admission.

Surprisingly and unfortunately for me, I did not gain admission to the university. Everyone was shocked; people began to wonder how such an excellent student with excellent grades could be refused admission. I kept the matter in my heart, because I knew it was God at work. I asked God for His forgiveness and humbly asked Him to show me what He needed of me.

That year, 2004, was a great year in my life. God brought two ministers my way, a pastor and his wife. They led me to Christ and we worked together for the salvation of souls in my community. God used us mightily as He worked through us to revive the church and bring deliverance to His people. We evangelized the community and we saw many coming to Christ. It was a great experience I will never forget. My contact with these two ambassadors of God, and the experiences we shared together formed the building materials that strengthened my faith in Christ Jesus. I now understood why God prevented me from leaving for the university.

The following year, 2005, I gained admission into two universities; it was now up to me to make a choice. I also received a half scholarship from my local church. As the best student from my school, a less-endowed one, I received a waiver of my academic facility user fees from the government of Ghana for the period of my study, and further received a scholarship award from the Students Financial Aid Office of the university I chose. I was overjoyed. This is a clear illustration of the difference between God's ultimate purpose for our lives and the instructions and duties he needs us to perform to accomplish those purposes. Know God's purpose for your life.

Be obedient

"To obey is better than sacrifice." Obedience is very important in accomplishing your God-given purposes. Follow where He leads. Sometimes God puts us through simple tests by giving us simple instructions to follow, but we often fail these tests (Ex. 15:26; 16:4-29). The ability to follow simple instructions given by God--not the ability to preach or pray or work miracles-shows that we love God and are growing in our walk with Him. Jesus Christ confirmed, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (Jn. 14:15)

Disobedience comes in three forms: not doing what you are asked to do at all (total disobedience, Mt. 21:28-31a), doing what you are asked to do at a later time (delayed obedience, Jonah) and doing a part of the whole assignment (selective obedience or incomplete obedience, 1 Kgs. 13:1ff). Many people in the Bible experimented with at least one of the kinds of disobedience, and it brought them various consequences (Deut. 28:15ff) including a break in fellowship with God. Saul was rejected as king for selective disobedience (1 Sam.); the prophet from Bethel died because of selective obedience (1 Kgs. 13); Moses died prematurely for refusing to heed God's command (Nu. 27:12-14); and Jonah spent three days in the belly of a whale for delayed obedience (Jonah 1). There are many examples, but not all can be mentioned here. The point I am making is that in order to accomplish your God-given purpose, you must follow God's voice. Be obedient.

Exercise your gifts, abilities, and talents

Just as God prepared Samuel, Joseph, David, and Jesus during their childhood and youthful ages, so God has given you gifts, talents, and abilities to prepare you for your mission on earth. They are to be used intertwined to accomplish this mission. There are certain "little" things God has entrusted into your care. You are going through certain experiences, all in preparation for tomorrow. When you are able to patiently learn from these experiences and watch over the "little" things God has entrusted into your care, He will lead you into the next "big" role of accomplishment (Lk. 16:10-12, KJV).

Whatever gifts, abilities, or talents God has given you, use them in love, with all diligence and commitment. No matter how "small" they are, or how people look down upon them, determine to use them with all your heart. You may not be the one to preach or lead a prayer session, but you may be responsible for cleaning the pews; do it with joy--God is preparing you for something greater. You may be shepherding a very small congregation; do it with all your might--God is preparing you for a huge task. No role is too small to accomplish. If you fail to accomplish that "little" role God has given you, you will deny someone an opportunity to know Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and personal Saviour.

Looking through my Christian life, I have realised that if I had not responded to the promptings of the Holy Spirit concerning very little things which seemed unimportant, I would have denied many the opportunity to know Christ. If I had not obeyed the voice of God concerning the spiritual growth of many of the brethren I have discipled, they possibly wouldn't have gotten to this level of knowing God. In most of the cases it seemed unnecessary, but our ways are not God's ways; and man looks at the outside, but God looks at the inside.

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